AudioBook Review: Daddy’s Gone A Hunting by Mary Higgins Clark

AudioBook Review:

I am a huge fan of Mary Higgins Clark, and have read probably every title released up until 2010, and then sporadically as time permitted. While I had not read this title, I had high hopes for the book, and was really excited to be approved to review the title.

Sadly, I didn’t find the story as intriguing or suspenseful, nor was the ending at all surprising. The overwhelming sense I have from this audiobook is that the ending was created first, and characters were created and added simply to service the conclusion, or provide fill – far too many characters were not completely developed or their appearance explained. Additionally, there were several places where description overwhelmed the story, far more information provided about clothing and styling elements that did not feel necessary.

Conversationally, there were moments of really good, and moments that were not so wonderful: while much of the dialogue felt stilted and rough, it was also often included in spaces that were overwhelmed with description and underserved with emotional impact.

The narration provided by Jan Maxwell was smooth, well done and her tone was perfectly modulated, with inflections to distinguish and differentiate characters and sexes. Her voice is easy to listen to, and her delivery added an emotional component that was missing in the text.

This was not my favorite title by this author, but there were some good moments even with the flaws, although it will not tempt me to seek out the print version. It was, enjoyable but not AS enjoyable as I had hoped.

I received the Audio-CD version of the book from the publisher via AudioBook Jukebox for purpose of honest review at The Heard Word. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

In her latest novel Mary Higgins Clark, the beloved, bestselling “Queen of Suspense,” exposes a dark secret from a family’s past that threatens the lives of two sisters, Kate and Hannah Connelly, when the family-owned furniture firm in Long Island City, founded by their grandfather and famous for its fine reproductions of antiques, explodes into flames in the middle of the night, leveling the buildings to the ground, including the museum where priceless antiques have been on permanent display for years.
The ashes reveal a startling and grisly discovery, and provoke a host of suspicions and questions. Was the explosion deliberately set? What was Kate—tall, gorgeous, blond, a CPA for one of the biggest accounting firms in the country, and sister of a rising fashion designer—doing in the museum when it burst into flames? Why was Gus, a retired and disgruntled craftsman, with her at that time of night? What if someone isn’t who he claims to be?

Now Gus is dead, and Kate lies in the hospital badly injured and in a coma, so neither can tell what drew them there, or what the tragedy may have to do with the hunt for a young woman missing for many years, nor can they warn that somebody may be covering his tracks, willing to kill to save himself . . .

Step by step, in a novel of dazzling suspense and excitement, Mary Higgins Clark once again demonstrates the mastery of her craft that has made her books international bestsellers for years. She presents the reader with a perplexing mystery, a puzzling question of identity, and a fascinating cast of characters—one of whom may just be a ruthless killer . . .